Randy Barnes, a shot put for life, has held a world record without any credibility for 30 years. The 23.12 m mark is a relic from the era of large-scale doping.
Randy Barnes once said that he was afraid of the day when things would go no further. The almost 54-year-old American, who was defined by his imposing posture, looked deeply. The strong man spoke of weakness, which would not have been suspected in someone like him, almost two meters tall and over 130 kilos in weight. When this bear talked about his sensitive side from a man, when he spoke about his concerns about a possible injury, failure in competition or the danger of complacency, the audience was amazed.
It remains to be seen how much his fragile interior led Barnes to reach for prohibited means. The fact is that he was convicted twice of the abuse of doping – the first time in August 1990. A good two months after he had improved the almost two-year outdoor world record set by East German Ulf Timmermann by six centimeters, he went to a meeting in Malmö the investigators on the net. They showed him the use of the anabolic steroid methyltestosterone.
Despite the ban, Barnes’ best performance remains recognized to this day. The International Athletics Association IAAF continues to refrain from canceling the expanse reached on May 20, 1990. The request to erase all records set before 2005 is still awaiting implementation.
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Unsuccessful lawsuits
Barnes, who has also held the indoor world record at 22.66 m since January 1989, reacted to the test result in Sweden like most of the fraudsters of their kind. He was not aware of any guilt, denied the use of banned substances and spoke of manipulation of his urine sample and conspiracy. He went to court twice with a complaint, and twice the appeal was dismissed. The argument that tests twelve days before and five days after the sample given in Malmo did not produce any abnormalities was unsuccessful. The penalty that was customary for a first doping offense, a two-year ban, persisted.
Barnes returned to the competition ring in February 1993 at a meeting in Los Angeles – with the long-term goal of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. In front of his home audience, he fulfilled his dream of gold, which he had just missed eight years earlier in Seoul. In South Korea’s capital, he was second behind Timmermann and Werner Günthör. With his last attempt, he surpassed compatriot John Godina and was still the favorite role.
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Two years after the triumph in Atlanta, Barnes was history as a shot put. In the spring of 1998 he was convicted of doping again and shortly afterwards was given a lifelong ban as a repeat offender. A check made in training in early April revealed the use of androstenedione, a dietary supplement that promotes the production of the body’s testosterone. Barnes then played the ignorant. He does not want to have known that the concentrate available on the free market is on the list of prohibited substances. His attorney’s specific objection that the Rostrostendion was identified as a doping agent at short notice and that his client was not in possession of the document updated to 1998 was not heard by the judges.
One among many
Barnes had to leave the big stage at a time when he was one of many when it came to abuse of doping, but in which far from all the perpetrators were exposed. Timmermann, for example, remained undisturbed until the resignation after the games in Barcelona despite all suspicions. Evidence of his violations could only be provided after the collapse of the GDR in the course of the processing of state-controlled doping. It was evident from the documents that Timmermann had been given very high doses of the oral steroid Oral-Turinabol, developed and widespread in eastern Germany, in the 1980s.
Günthör was also unable to escape the shadow of doping. In the midst of those caught, he always stood like an immaculate athlete. His doctor admitted that he had received internationally prohibited drugs for “medical purposes” in the regeneration phase after operations. Such procedures that were not permitted abroad were permitted in Switzerland according to the valid “therapy window”. The possibility of defusing the discussions with controls during the training that had arisen in advance after Günthör won Olympic bronze in Barcelona was not used until the Thurgauer resigned the following year.
Günthör, who was the world’s most complete shot putter during his era, also cut a good figure as a high jumper, ice hockey or football player despite his mass. Barnes also tried other sports. In May 1991, during his first exclusion, he joined the San Francisco 49ers. Barnes received a two-year contract from the National Football League NFL franchise, which had once unsuccessfully wooed Günthör’s services. However, he did not make the leap into the NFL team.
Barnes was more successful in a special branch of golf. In the discipline that is about hitting the balls as far as possible, he once qualified for the World Cup. That World Long Drive Championship was held in December 2005. The day when nothing went wrong for the shot put Barnes was more than seven years ago.
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